Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 553 - 125: Into the Tiger’s Den, To Seize the Cub (Part 2)

Amidst the terrifying wave of sound that could make one's legs weaken and heart stop, Lin Guanglai appeared at the center of the camera:

In the Softbank Team's dugout, he picked up his distinctive pitcher's glove, and steadily, step by step, emerged from the shadows of the bench into the yellow inferno, exposed to fifty thousand razor-sharp gazes.

The expression on his face was no different from usual, as if the frenzy of the scene had no impact on him at all.

In the stands, a Hanshin Tigers fan swung an image he held towards the camera repeatedly: in this personally hand-drawn caricature, Lin Guanglai was distorted cartoonishly into a clown, kneeling humbly before a character wearing a Hanshin Tigers jersey, with billowy red marks on his face — a creation that surely satisfied Hanshin fans and brought loud cheers from the crowd.

Moreover, on his way to the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai was subjected to verbal insults that rose and fell, including but not limited to personal attacks like "bastard" and "mongrel."

The frenzied boos attempted to devour him, while the curses aim to undermine him; yet, clad in Softbank's black away jersey, Lin Guang moved like Moses parting the sea, completely separating the Hanshin yellow tide as he walked towards the pitcher's mound.

Finally, Lin Guanglai arrived at the mound; then, for the first time, he lifted his head.

He let his gaze sweep over the stands around him, staring into the flushed faces, and the corners of Lin Guanglai's mouth curved slightly: what can he say, he found these Hanshin Tigers fans somewhat naive — they genuinely believed that such external factors could affect his mindset, but in reality, it was a futile effort.

Of course, Lin Guanglai didn't mind playing along with them.

Thus, under the gaze of fifty thousand angry eyes, under the focus of all the camera lenses, Lin Guanglai standing on the pitcher's mound slowly raised his right hand, making a gesture that left Koshien breathless— 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

He slowly lifted his right hand, slightly cupping his palm, elegantly and calmly pressing it against the back of his right ear.

He stood there, body tall as a pine, slightly tilted head, face devoid of any expression, eyes eerily calm.

This action clearly and unequivocally expressed his thoughts at that moment — Lin Guanglai was indicating that the boos weren't loud enough, he couldn't hear them, please make it louder!

The deafening noise at Koshien abruptly ceased, Hanshin fans seemed to be choked by an invisible hand, unable to speak — what did they see? This guy... not only isn't he scared, he's even... enjoying it?! He's actively requesting their hatred!

Hanshin fans' anger was completely ignited, like a provoked beast, the turbulent wave of noise exploded again tenfold, a hundredfold more intense than before; boos, curses, stomping sounds shattered unprecedented decibel values, plunging Koshien into shock.

And in such an atmosphere, the bottom half of the first inning officially began.

Though the mutual provocation with Hanshin Tigers fans was interesting, Lin Guanglai knew that if he wanted to walk out of Koshien with head held high, today's game had to be won in an impeccable manner — therefore, each opponent was an object of focused attention, not allowing any carelessness or neglect.

The Hanshin Tigers' leadoff batter was the former Minnesota Twins third baseman Nishikawa Gou, a switch-hitter — facing the right-handed Lin Guanglai, Nishikawa Gou opted to stand in the relatively advantageous left batter's box for this at-bat.

From the data, Nishikawa Gou was never one to break open a game for the team with power hits, often serving as a leadoff with exquisite hitting technique to get on base or advance teammates; moreover, at 30 years old, he suffered a major rib fracture injury mid-season, and off the field, his tumultuous divorce case made headlines, remaining unresolved.

Against such a finesse hitter, Lin Guanglai chose to leverage power against him, relying solely on fastballs to confront him head-on.

Just as the at-bat began, a fastball exceeding 158 km/h rocketed into Nishikawa Gou's inner corner with intense spin, darting into his inner corner near his arm, an unanswerable pitch to anyone.

Showing his intent through a high-inside fastball, Lin Guanglai targeted the upper edge of the strike zone next; more importantly, he subtly adjusted his fingers' position on the seams during his arm swing, adding subtle trajectory variation to the fastball.

By the time Nishikawa Gou reacted, his swung bat was far behind, left to bitterly swallow two strikes.

In an absolute 0-2 advantage, as arguably Japan's best pitcher, Lin Guanglai certainly couldn't let such an opportunity slip — aiming for Nishikawa Gou's low inner corner, the next moment came another precision strike with a blazing fastball.

Nishikawa Gou in the batter's box remained unmoved, but the umpire behind him promptly ruled: following a bow-and-arrow motion, the Hanshin Tigers leadoff batter was struck out.

Some regrettable sounds rose from the stands, quickly drowned by louder cheers, incessant cries of "Hit" echoed through the stands — seeing them in this state, it seemed they longed to face Lin Guanglai themselves.

The second batter, Kamimoto Hiroki, had excellent plate discipline and a notably low swing rate at pitches outside the strike zone; yet, long positioned as a tactical second batter had adversely impacted his hitting form: this season, many of his hitting metrics hit career lows, with OPS dropping below 0.7.

Lin Guanglai never feared confronting opponents within the strike zone, let alone when the foe wasn't a strong slugger — like the first at-bat, with three consecutive strikes, he once again struck out the opponent, again leaving the Koshien stands momentarily silent.

"A valiant Toriyama, also joins the battle today! Swing like lightning, watch me!" With the player personal support song echoing from the stands, carrying the home fans' fervent expectations, the Hanshin Tigers' third batter, and one of their star players, Toriyama Kei stepped into the batter's box.

Facing this "Hawkeye" player who garnered over 90 walks for three consecutive seasons, Lin Guanglai didn't plan on disputing with bad balls;

His stance today was exceptionally firm, at least within this first half-inning, he focused solely on the strike zone!

Strike! Strike!! Strike!!!

With three more swift, precise fastballs, Lin Guanglai captured a third consecutive victory, directly concluding the half-inning game — not to mention the spectators on-site, even Toriyama Kei in the batter's box hadn't fully realized what had happened!

"Lin Guanglai! 9 pitches, 3 strikeouts — he set a brilliant start for his first Japan Series journey with a perfect half-inning, especially that final fastball into the batter's low inner corner, leaving Toriyama no chance to swing!"

"Perhaps it was the pre-game response from Hanshin fans that angered him, Lin Guanglai countered with 9 straight fastballs as his response!"

"But no worries, as a neutral commentator, I wish for more such collisions!"

"The game is bound to be thrilling!"